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Travel insurance for climbing overseas 19-Apr-2016 At 4:32:31 PM Jelmer

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On 19/04/2016 Wendy wrote:
>I don't think those guys are going to cover climbing rescue? Just medical
>costs? It still ends up pretty expensive - i just got quoted $US400 for
>Douglas and I for 2 months with climbing add on with a $1000 excess. They
>ramp it up with age and we are terribly middle aged now.

Search and rescue is not specifically covered by Diplomat insurance. Medical evacuation is, but that would not include for instance an air evac with no injuries. I think it does cover for instance a heli evac after breaking a leg - medical evac as recommended by a physician.

SAR costs are very location dependent - most countries use volunteers or public services (military, navy, SES-like services) and do not charge at all. In Australia, SAR is free. In the US it depends on which state/county you are in. In Mexico it's covered off by the navy (?). In all honesty, in Mexico I wouldn't expect much. Maybe some local volunteering climbers or SES-like service.

You could get GEOS membership to cover SAR expenses in most countries by signing up for their 'club' at $30USD a year. That does only work if you carry a PLB or similar device though, in which case when you activate it SAR gets coordinated via COSPAS-SARSAT (straight to AMSA in Australia, which is where my PLB is registered).

Also, $400 for two persons and two months seems not too bad. About $3.50 per day per person.
Health insurance in Australia is more expensive than that?